New branch for Max Health Club on Westvlietweg
With a new branch, Max Health Club aims to bring its typical concept to Westvlietweg. "The whole area yearns for a luxury fitness club," he says.
DATE
27 December 2022
TEXT
Tijmen van den Born
IMAGE
Brian Mul and Fleur Beemster
New branch for Max Health Club on Westvlietweg
With a new branch, Max Health Club aims to bring its typical concept to Westvlietweg. "The whole area yearns for a luxury fitness club," he says.
In his mind it is already finished, the new Max Health Club on Westvlietweg. To picture it, Jacco Helmink doesn't even have to close his eyes: he knows every future corner, every corridor, and almost already knows which gym equipment will be where. The latter may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it won't matter much. "This is also kind of the idea of what we want to do there," he gestures towards the swimming pool at the location on Klatteweg in Scheveningen district, where people swim laps in the early afternoon. "Only the pool there will be even longer, which is very special for a fitness club."
Jacco Helmink and Niels Renes look at Max Health Club's new branch on Westvlietweg, in the Leidschendam and Voorburg area.
Because to get a good idea of exactly what the new Max Health Club will look like, there is no better place to meet than the old one. "The name Max Health Club actually says it all: we want to achieve the maximum in terms of health and club feel for our members," says the 41-year-old Helmink, who owns the luxury gym, opened in 2006, together with his business partner Niels Renes. "And not only here, but now therefore also on Westvlietweg, in the Leidschendam and Voorburg area."
"Instead of a tennis court, it will have a 25-metre pool. And I can't say often enough how special that is"
That branch on Westvlietweg has been officially owned by Helmink and Renes since early September. The two do not start from scratch: The new, second Max Health Club will be in the building that has housed Westvliet Family Sports & Health Club, a fitness and racquet club, for the past 44 years. The membership will be taken over, but after a renovation that will last until at least the end of 2023, it will look very different. At the time of the work, however, the gym will remain open as usual. "Perhaps the biggest change is that tennis is going out," says Helmink. "So instead there will be a 25-metre pool in there. And I can't say often enough how special that is."
Fitness club for the whole family
In a nutshell, Max Health Club's new location is a bigger and more spectacular version of the current one. The concept - a fitness club for the whole family - will be replicated some eight kilometres to the southeast. This includes a childcare centre in the morning hours, swimming and judo classes for the youth and various individual sports facilities: nine squash courts, extensive group lesson options, 950 square metres of fitness space, a large spa, a sauna and a towel service. In addition, just about everything can also be supervised by a personal trainer, from yoga to swimming and boxing.
Special, Helmink calls it. "If you want to learn a breast crawl really well, for instance, you can just come to us. And of course you can try out all kinds of things; this diversity ensures that it also remains fun. Because if you want to get the most out of it, it is especially important that you have fun."
Living room atmosphere
The club feeling Helmink mentioned earlier plays an important part in that enjoyment. On a weekday afternoon on Klatteweg, it becomes very clear what he means by that. The hospitality area is packed with people puffing out. Some have ordered a healthy afterwork meal, others stick to a glass of water or a cappuccino. The afterglow is a familiar Max scene. Helmink, laughing: "It's still a matter of combining the suffering with the pleasant. We create a kind of living-room atmosphere at Max, which I think makes us unique."
Added to this is the family nature of Max Health Club. The luxury gym's main target group: people in their 30s, preferably with children. "You can spend a whole day with us," says Helmink. "You take your children to daycare, swimming lessons or judo and then you can go and exercise yourself. Afterwards, a bite to eat or a cup of coffee with friends, you can do that here and also at our branch on Westvlietweg."
Max Health Club
That family character of Max Health Club is also reflected in the price structure. The head of the family - which in principle can be anyone - pays 76.50 euros a month, family members who join can exercise for a substantially lower amount, starting from 56 euros a month. In addition, new members of the Westvlietweg branch receive a welcome discount; those who sign up during the renovation will sport for the Westvliet Family Sports & Health Club rate until 1 January 2025; that is 57 euros per month, a discount of 19.50 euros.
"The whole area yearns for a luxury fitness club"
With the new branch, Max is capitalising on a gap in the local market. The neighbourhood - where many young families live - has no other higher-end gym. "The neighbourhood really craves a luxury fitness club," Helmink knows. "Or rather, the whole area yearns for a luxury fitness club. We also hope to reach people in Leidschendam, Voorburg, Zoetermeer, Oud-Rijswijk and the Binckhorst. There's an awful lot of construction going on there, families are coming to live there, so it's a nice growth area for us."
A replica of Rembrandt's 'The Night Watch' now hangs above the swimming pool on Klatteweg. Helmink thinks it would be great to create a kind of gallery of honour with Dutch masters on Westvlietweg.
In a little over a year, Max's newest branch will be finished. And although Helmink and Renes have most of it already figured out, there is always room for new, unusual ideas. Above the swimming pool on Klatteweg, for instance, hangs a replica of Rembrandt's 'The Night Watch'. An old master on the wall of a modern fitness club. "I'm a big fan of this art," Helmink says enthusiastically. "Whether it will succeed, I don't quite know yet, but I think it would be great to create a kind of gallery of honour with Dutch masters on Westvlietweg."
Dreaming out loud
A wish, then, but so was the 25-metre pool once. And it really is coming, so Helmink does dare to dream aloud: "We're going to see, but it's going to be a very fat club no matter what."
text Tijmen van den Born image Brian Mul and Fleur Beemster
In his mind it is already finished, the new Max Health Club on Westvlietweg. To picture it, Jacco Helmink doesn't even have to close his eyes: he knows every future corner, every corridor, and almost already knows which gym equipment will be where. The latter may be a bit of an exaggeration, but it won't matter much. "This is also kind of the idea of what we want to do there," he gestures towards the swimming pool at the location on Klatteweg in Scheveningen district, where people swim laps in the early afternoon. "Only the pool there will be even longer, which is very special for a fitness club."
Jacco Helmink and Niels Renes look at Max Health Club's new branch on Westvlietweg, in the Leidschendam and Voorburg area.
Because to get a good idea of exactly what the new Max Health Club will look like, there is no better place to meet than the old one. "The name Max Health Club actually says it all: we want to achieve the maximum in terms of health and club feel for our members," says the 41-year-old Helmink, who owns the luxury gym, opened in 2006, together with his business partner Niels Renes. "And not only here, but now therefore also on Westvlietweg, in the Leidschendam and Voorburg area."
"Instead of a tennis court, it will have a 25-metre pool. And I can't say often enough how special that is"
That branch on Westvlietweg has been officially owned by Helmink and Renes since early September. The two do not start from scratch: The new, second Max Health Club will be in the building that has housed Westvliet Family Sports & Health Club, a fitness and racquet club, for the past 44 years. The membership will be taken over, but after a renovation that will last until at least the end of 2023, it will look very different. At the time of the work, however, the gym will remain open as usual. "Perhaps the biggest change is that tennis is going out," says Helmink. "So instead there will be a 25-metre pool in there. And I can't say often enough how special that is."
Fitness club for the whole family
In a nutshell, Max Health Club's new location is a bigger and more spectacular version of the current one. The concept - a fitness club for the whole family - will be replicated some eight kilometres to the southeast. This includes a childcare centre in the morning hours, swimming and judo classes for the youth and various individual sports facilities: nine squash courts, extensive group lesson options, 950 square metres of fitness space, a large spa, a sauna and a towel service. In addition, just about everything can also be supervised by a personal trainer, from yoga to swimming and boxing.
Special, Helmink calls it. "If you want to learn a breast crawl really well, for instance, you can just come to us. And of course you can try out all kinds of things; this diversity ensures that it also remains fun. Because if you want to get the most out of it, it is especially important that you have fun."
Living room atmosphere
The club feeling Helmink mentioned earlier plays an important part in that enjoyment. On a weekday afternoon on Klatteweg, it becomes very clear what he means by that. The hospitality area is packed with people puffing out. Some have ordered a healthy afterwork meal, others stick to a glass of water or a cappuccino. The afterglow is a familiar Max scene. Helmink, laughing: "It's still a matter of combining the suffering with the pleasant. We create a kind of living-room atmosphere at Max, which I think makes us unique."
Added to this is the family nature of Max Health Club. The luxury gym's main target group: people in their 30s, preferably with children. "You can spend a whole day with us," says Helmink. "You take your children to daycare, swimming lessons or judo and then you can go and exercise yourself. Afterwards, a bite to eat or a cup of coffee with friends, you can do that here and also at our branch on Westvlietweg."
Max Health Club
That family character of Max Health Club is also reflected in the price structure. The head of the family - which in principle can be anyone - pays 76.50 euros a month, family members who join can exercise for a substantially lower amount, starting from 56 euros a month. In addition, new members of the Westvlietweg branch receive a welcome discount; those who sign up during the renovation will sport for the Westvliet Family Sports & Health Club rate until 1 January 2025; that is 57 euros per month, a discount of 19.50 euros.
"The whole area yearns for a luxury fitness club"
With the new branch, Max is capitalising on a gap in the local market. The neighbourhood - where many young families live - has no other higher-end gym. "The neighbourhood really craves a luxury fitness club," Helmink knows. "Or rather, the whole area yearns for a luxury fitness club. We also hope to reach people in Leidschendam, Voorburg, Zoetermeer, Oud-Rijswijk and the Binckhorst. There's an awful lot of construction going on there, families are coming to live there, so it's a nice growth area for us."
A replica of Rembrandt's 'The Night Watch' now hangs above the swimming pool on Klatteweg. Helmink thinks it would be great to create a kind of gallery of honour with Dutch masters on Westvlietweg.
In a little over a year, Max's newest branch will be finished. And although Helmink and Renes have most of it already figured out, there is always room for new, unusual ideas. Above the swimming pool on Klatteweg, for instance, hangs a replica of Rembrandt's 'The Night Watch'. An old master on the wall of a modern fitness club. "I'm a big fan of this art," Helmink says enthusiastically. "Whether it will succeed, I don't quite know yet, but I think it would be great to create a kind of gallery of honour with Dutch masters on Westvlietweg."
Dreaming out loud
A wish, then, but so was the 25-metre pool once. And it really is coming, so Helmink does dare to dream aloud: "We're going to see, but it's going to be a very fat club no matter what."
